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Judge In Greece Postpones Retrial In Beating Death Of Texas Tourist Bakari Henderson

ATHENS, Greece (CBSDFW.COM/AP) — A Greek court has postponed the retrial of seven suspects on murder charges for the 2017 fatal beating of a Texas tourist.

The judge on the Greek island of Zakynthos made the ruling to allow a lawyer newly hired by victim Bakari Henderson's family to familiarize himself with the case.

The court in the western port town of Patras postponed the case until January 13.

Six of the men -- five Serbian nationals and a British man of Serbian origin -- had been convicted by a first instance court last year and sentenced to between 5 and 15 years in prison, but four have since been released. The seventh defendant, a Greek barman, had been acquitted.

A public prosecutor ordered the retrial of all seven, deeming the sentences too lenient.

Henderson, a 22-year-old from Austin, died in July 2017 after being beaten in the street following an argument in a bar in Laganas. Video footage from a security camera showed Henderson running down the sidewalk and being pursued. One man tackled him, throwing him onto a parked car before others joined in the beating.

Family members said Henderson had just graduated with a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Arizona and was in Greece working on a photo shoot to launch a clothing line.

(© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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